1956 Songs: Just Walkin’ in the Rain

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Back before I was born there was a musical revolution going on. The wild mix of music styles in 1956 influenced the 60s..and, by extension, me. Duke Ellington famously said there’s only two kinds of music: good and bad. That was certainly the case 70 years ago. Let’s go back! Just Walkin’ in the Rain - Johnnie Ray Poor old Johnnie Ray Sounded sad upon the radio Moved a million hearts in mono (Dexy’s Midnight Runners, “Come On Eileen”) Johnnie Ray really did have his share of problems. Today he’d keep TMZ busy 24/7, but back in the 50s things were more easily swept under the carpet. He was arrested for soliciting in a gay bar in the late 50s, and in the 60s he fathered a child with What’s My Line panelist/gossip columnist Dorothy Kilgallen. He battled alcoholism and died young (63) from liver failure. Hmm..that sounds rather tame compared to some of today’s celebrities. Anyway, this song also has a wild history. It was written and originally recorded in 1952 by the Prisonaires. This was a doo-wop group comprised of four Tennessee State Prison inmates (hence the group’s name). Johnny Bragg, doing time for crimes that were later proven to be false charges, came up with the idea of the song while walking around the prison yard in a rain storm. The Prisonaires’ version was one of the earliest records on Sun Records, and it became a significant R&B hit in early 1953. Frank Clement, the governor of Tennessee at the time, took to letting the Prisonaires out on day passes to do concerts and perform at the governor’s mansion. (No, they didn’t escape or commit other crimes while out.) Mitch Miller pitched the song to Ray, who didn’t care for the song that much (not to the extent that Sinatra disliked today’s 1966 song, mind you…), but went ahead and recorded it. The combination was right, and it was a big hit. It’s not the first time prisoners have written classics. This version shows that Ray really did “move a million hearts in mono” back then. Just Walkin’ in the Rain Written by Johnny Bragg and Robert Riley Recorded by Johnnie Ray Released as a single, 1956 Saying who can that fool be: